16 ADVENTURES IN SOUTH AFRICA. 



'dgod the shots by a "salaam-like" movement of his 

 trunk, with the point of which he gently touched tlie 

 Auund with a strikmg and peculiar action. Surprised 

 and shocked to find that I v/as only tormenting and 

 prolongmg the sufferings of the noble beast, which bore 

 his trials with such dignified composure, I resolved to 

 finish the proceeding with all possible dispatch ; accord- 

 ingly, I opened fire upon him from the left side, aiming 

 behind the shoulder ; but even there it was long before 

 my bullets seemed to take effect. I first fired six shots 

 with the two-grooved, which must have eventually 

 proved mortal, but as yet he evinced no visible distress; 

 after which I fired three shots at the same part with 

 the Dutch six-pounder. Large tears now trickled from 

 his eyes, which he slowly shut and opened ; his colossal 

 frame quivered convulsively, and, falling on his side, he 

 expired. The tusks of this elephant were beautifully 

 arched, and were the heaviest I had yet met with, 

 averaging ninety pounds weight apiece. 



On the 1st of September — so full of interest to the 

 British Nimrod — we saddled our steeds and steered our 

 course for Mangmaluky. Cantering along the base of 

 a mountain range, I started two klipspringers, which 

 went bounding up the mountain side with the elasticity 

 of an India-rubber ball, selecting for their path the most 

 prominent points of the large fragments of rock of which 

 the mountain side was chiefly composed. I shot one 

 of these, being the first of the species I had killed, 

 though in subsequent years, while hunting the sable 

 antelope, I secured a number of fine specimens. This 

 darling little antelope frequents precipitous rocky hills 

 &nd mountains, and bounds along over the broken 

 masses of rock with the most extraordinary ease and 

 agility : it may often be seen perched, like a chamois, 



